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Directors' Deals: Vodafone director makes a good call

INVESTORS take a strong interest when company bosses buy or sell shares in their own firms. Directors have in-depth knowledge of their businesses, so it can pay to track their moves. Every week we reveal the directors who have bought or sold big stakes.

John Buchanan, a non-executive director at Vodafone, the telecoms group, increased his holding by buying 100,000 shares in the company at 126¾p on Thursday.

He acted at the right time; Vodafone rose sharply at the end of last week after it bought back about 51m of its shares.

Vodafone hit the headlines last month after it lost out to Cingular, a US rival, in the bid battle for AT&T Wireless.

Meanwhile, Sir Christopher Gent, the former Vodafone chief executive, appeared in a Düsseldorf court on Thursday, where former Mannesmann directors stand accused of unlawfully receiving £38m in “golden handshakes” when Vodafone bought the company in 2000.